LG Chocolate 3 Cell Phone Review - Imaging
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Marianne Schultz Published on September 02, 2008 Comment on this |
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| The Chocolate 3's imaging performance improves over that of its predecessor in many areas, though it captures colors inaccurately. The picture and video software is fairly straightforward and easy to navigate, if a little limited. The Chocolate 3 is definitely good in a pinch to capture those impromptu moments out with friends. |
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Resolution (3.43)
In order to test a camera's resolution, we take a picture of an industry-standard graph and run the resulting pictures through image testing software called Imatest. Imatest then analyzes the picture to measure the point at which black and white lines lose definition and begin to blur into one another, expressed in line widths per picture height (lw/ph) on the horizontal and vertical. The higher these numbers, the better the camera's resolution.
The Chocolate 3 scored 879 lw/ph horizontally and 1117 lw/ph vertically, yielding an overall Resolution score of 3.43. The previous Chocolate's resolution score was 1.69 with 603.2 lw/ph horizontally and 618.6 lw/ph, so the new Chocolate has improved a fair amount over its predecessor, yielding better resolution in both directions. The Chocolate 3 is even better than the iPhone 3G and LG enV2 in this area with their scores of 3.33 and 1.61 respectively. Keep in mind, though, that cell phone cameras are nearly always far inferior from even basic dedicated point and shoot cameras, so the Chocolate 3 or any other phone to which we're comparing it here will not be a good replacement for a camera if you want photos meant to be keepsakes or printed for display.
| Cell Phone | LG Chocolate 3 | LG Chocolate VX8550 | Apple iPhone 3G |
| Score | 3.43 | 1.69 | 3.33 |
| lw/ph horizontal/vertical | 879/1117 | 616.8/569.5 |
866/897 |
| Image of Resolution Chart |  |
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| Cell Phone | Sony Ericsson z750a | LG enV2 | Samsung M520 |
| Score | 6.30 | 1.61 | 0.32 |
| lw/ph horizontal/vertical | 1191/1124 | 601/631 | 266.9/200.2 |
| Image of Resolution Chart |  |
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Color (3.82)
To measure a camera's color accuracy, we take pictures of an industry-standard color checker chart, the GretagMacbeth chart, and run the resulting images through the Imatest software. The software compares the colors captured by the camera to the actual colors of the chart, and demonstrates the difference in the following chart where the smallest rectangle shows the actual "correct" color of the chart, the largest rectangle shows the color captured by the camera, and the last interior rectangle shows what the camera should have captured with correction for lighting.
The previous Chocolate also captured under-saturated color, but to a lesser degree than the Chocolate 3. But the Chocolate 3 still captures color more accurately than the iPhone 3G, though not better than the LG enV2.
| Cell Phone | LG Chocolate 3 | LG Chocolate VX8550 | Apple iPhone 3G |
| Score | 3.82 | 4.69 | 3.90 |
| Color Checker Chart |  |
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| Cell Phone | Sony Ericsson z750a | LG enV2 | Samsung M520 |
| Score | 5.41 | 6.39 | 5.45 |
| Color Checker Chart |  |
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Noise (1.42)
Noise is a common by-product of digital imaging and can be caused by inaccurate, mis-firing, or incorrectly stimulated sensors in an image sensor. Noise usually increases in low-light situations since any capturing errors in the image sensor can produce signals greater than what the image being captured transmits, resulting in graininess and inaccurate colors. Generally, larger image sensors suffer from less noise. Cell phones have very small image sensors and are thus prone to more noise. To test noise, we use the GretagMacbeth color chart again, illuminate it at light levels equivalent to a bright sunny day all the way down to a room illuminated by candlelight, take pictures, and then run those pictures through the Imatest software. Imatest then evaluates noise consistency across the different lighting levels.
Noise
The Chocolate 3 scored 1.42 in this area, which is an improvement over the previous-generation Chocolate which scored 1.27. This is surprising, since the Chocolate 3 has a 2-megapixel camera, compared to the previous Chocolate with its 1.3 megapixel camera, given that lower megapixel cameras tend to show less noise than higher megapixel cameras. The noise levels were consistent across the different lighting levels, which is what we like to see, and only increased severely at the lowest lighting level of 60 lux in the tests, which is expected of any cell phone camera. Overall, the Chocolate 3 performed better than all of our comparison phones, including another 1.3 megapixel camera in the Samsung M520.
Live Preview (3.0)
The Chocolate 3's live preview takes up the entire main screen, with a small gray transparent menu bar at the bottom for the menu options. The clarity of the preview is pretty good, with just a bit of blurriness during movement though it re-focuses clearly almost immediately once you stop moving it. In low light, the blurriness is more prevalent during movement, but it still does a good job re-focusing quickly once it's still. When it comes to the pictures you take, you'll probably see a noticeable difference between them and the preview image you saw since the default preview mode shows you a zoomed-in version of what will actually be captured. So, you'll think you're capturing less than what will actually be recorded unless you change the default preview to "Actual view" in the camera's menu. Another area in which the live preview is not accurate is in showing colors - your pictures will generally show less vivid colors than you expect based on the live preview, which is not surprising based on the Chocolate 3's results in the Color test.
Unlocked Standby to First Shot (6.18)
To test unlocked standby to first shot, we start with the phone in the closed, unlocked position and then time how long it takes to get to the camera application and capture a picture. With a camera shortcut key to the right of the D-pad, getting to the camera application is easy on the Chocolate 3, but there is a slight delay as the camera app opens up and you see an animated circle rotating as you wait. You don't have to wait long overall - the Chocolate 3 takes 3.24 seconds in this test, which is not bad but is slower than its predecessor by 0.88 second. This isn't necessarily a bad thing since this time is right in line with most of our other comparison phones, and you'll be able to capture those impromptu moments with a picture fairly quickly in reality. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
Unlocked Standby to First Shot (sec)
Shot to Shot Time (1.25)
To test shot to shot time on the Chocolate 3, we time taking 5 pictures in succession as quickly as possible, and then calculate frames per second from this. It is not possible to cancel the automatic review of a picture you just took in the Chocolate 3's camera application and you must choose to Save or Erase every picture you take, which slows this shot to shot time down quite a bit, leading to a total time of just over 12 seconds to take 5 successive pictures. The Chocolate 3 does not have a burst mode either, which is a bit surprising. The Chocolate 3 managed .42 frames per second, performing slightly better than its predecessor by .04 frames per second and also beating the iPhone 3G by .03 frames per second. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
Shot to Shot Time (sec)
Shutter to Shot Time (16.67)
To test the shutter to shot time, we start a stopwatch at the same moment we press the capture on the phone - the time then shown in the resulting picture shows how long it took for the camera to capture an image after the capture button was pressed. The Chocolate 3 performed very well in this test, capturing an image .12 second after the capture button was pressed. This level of performance exceeds that of its predecessor at .22 second, the iPhone 3G at .44 second, and the LG enV2 at .55, and the majority of all of the phones we've ever tested. Rest assured that you'll most likely capture almost exactly the moment you want to when you use the Chocolate 3's camera. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
Shutter to Shot Time (sec)
Interface (7.0)
The Chocolate 3's camera interface is very much like its predecessor's. The default live preview takes up the entire screen and you see some information as an overlay, such as the cell radio's signal strength and the battery meter at the top, as well as the current resolution setting and an icon representing the selected picture storage location, but it's not so much that it all obscures your view. Along the bottom there are 3 menu items - My Pics, Take, and Options. My Pics simply takes you to the thumbnail views of all of the photos you've taken and Take shows you that the center D-pad button captures a picture. The Options menu presents you with an array of options for your pictures, presented in a format similar to one you'd find on a dedicated digital camera. You can choose among options for Resolution, Self Timer, White Balance, Shutter Sound, Color Effects, Night Mode, Save Option, Photometry, Preview, and Camera/Video here, and it's nice to see this level of customization in a cell phone. This is far more comprehensive than you'd find on the iPhone 3G, for example, that has no camera controls to speak of other than a capture button.
Photo Album Software Internal (4.0)
The Chocolate 3's photo album software is fairly flexible, allowing you to do quite a bit with the pictures you've taken, and is very much like that of its predecessor. The default view when you open the application shows 6 thumbnail images at once, starting with the most recent photos at the top. Scrolling through the list is easy with the D-pad, and the menu along the bottom offers you the ability to Erase, View, or see more Options for managing your pictures. The View option just takes the selected thumbnail image and displays it on the entire screen, and the Options menu in this view offers an Edit mode where you can zoom in and out on the selected picture, or crop or rotate it.
The Options menu in the main thumbnail view allows you to do quite a bit, including sending via MMS or Bluetooth, or to an online album, setting a picture as wallpaper or a caller ID image, rename, or print pictures via Bluetooth. You can also choose the option to "Manage My Pics" which brings you to a slightly different view where you can mark pictures to move or delete en masse, or lock/unlock them to adjust their ability to be edited. There is no slideshow option where you can set it to transition from picture to picture automatically, so nothing really fancy here.
Manual Control (0.0)
While the Chocolate 3 does offer some white balance presets and a brightness control slider, these are not true manual controls that earn points under our scoring system.
Zoom (0.0)
The Chocolate 3's default camera resolution setting out of the box is 1600x1200, and digital zoom is not available with this resolution setting. Once you change this manually, the zoom function is available. Digital zoom is not very effective, since it essentially only enlarges a portion of the image without collecting any more data about that section. Optical zoom is more effective since the camera's optics actually focus in on the selected area of the subject and gather more data on that area. Most cell phone cameras do not have optical zoom, but often have digital zoom. We don't award points for digital zoom when it does not work on the highest-resolution setting.
Focus (0.0)
The Chocolate 3 has a fixed focus lens, and we award no points for this type of lens.
Flash (0.0)
The Chocolate 3 does not have a camera flash, for which it earns no points.
Metering (8.0)
Metering settings allow you to select the area in the framed image from where lighting should be judged to expose the picture. The Chocolate 3 does offer 3 metering selections in the Photometry setting in the camera application: Average, Spot, and Spot Multiple. This is not a common option on a cell phone camera and is nice to see. You can also adjust brightness manually using the up and down directions on the D-pad, and the level is represented by a bar meter on the screen.
White Balance (2.0)
White balance settings offer control over how whiteness is evaluated in the framed image and is most often dependent on lighting. The Chocolate 3 offers 5 white balance settings: Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Fluorescent, and Glow (moonlight). Presets are useful, but we expect these in cell phone cameras and the Chocolate 3 offers nothing out of the ordinary here.
Image Handling (6.0)
When viewing a single image in full-screen mode in the photo album software, the Options menu offers an Edit mode where the picture can be rotated, cropped, or zoomed. The Options menu in the Manage My Pics view allows you to mark pictures as locked so that they cannot be edited or deleted and rename them. This amount of image handling possible on the phone itself is not common, and the Chocolate 3 earns 6 points for this.
Video Quality (4.0)
The Chocolate 3 can record video at two resolution levels: 320x240 and 176x144, which is an improvement over its predecessor that only offered video recording at 176x144 resolution. Videos recorded in either resolution look fine when viewed on the phone's small screen, but don't fare as well when viewed in full screen on a computer, as expected. Videos in 176x144 are particularly poor and are really only good for MMS messages when the receiver will view the video on the small screen of their own cell phone. Videos recorded in 320x240 are good enough for YouTube, though. With the default Auto White Balance setting, the balance shifts visibly during recording, and any motion results in quite a bit of artifacting. In general, the Chocolate 3's video recording ability is passable to capture spontaneous video, but wouldn't do to record major events like graduations or your child's first steps. We have seen phones that offer very good video recording, like the Nokia N95 and the LG Dare, and the Chocolate 3 does not perform at this level.
Video Resolution (6.72)
To test video resolution, we record video of an industry-standard resolution chart and then run randomly selected frames from that recording through the Imatest software. The Imatest software then analyzes these selected frames to yield a lw/ph score that reflects how many black and white lines can be seen distinctly before they being to blur together. The Chocolate 3 earned a lw/ph figure of 210/320, which is better than its predecessor at 218.3/200.8, though not as good as the LG enV2 or Sony Ericsson z750a.
| Cell Phone | lw/ph horizontal/vertical | Score |
| LG Chocolate 3 | 210/320 | 6.72 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 218.3/200.8 |
4.38 |
| Apple iPhone 3G | n/a | n/a |
| Sony Ericsson z750a | 325/295 | 9.59 |
| LG enV2 | 293/300 | 8.79 |
| Samsung M520 | 121.4/118.4 | 1.44 |
Video Compression (2.0)
The Chocolate 3 records video in the 3GGP2 format like its predecessor, and no other format is available as an option, which is typical of most cell phones. We award 2 points for each common format a phone offers for video recording.
Interface (7.0)
The Chocolate 3's video interface is shared with its camera application, offering many of the same settings. The live preview is different, showing a smaller view of the subject for no apparent reason in comparison to the camera's default full-screen view. The recording timer is shown at the bottom of the screen just above the menu bar, and a flashing "REC" signal gives you a constant reminder during recording. Overall, the interface is straightforward and not confusing to use at all.
Manual Control (0.0)
As with the camera application, there are 5 white balance settings from which to select. There are also 4 color effects, but these are not considered image controls and are not considered for points here. Most cell phone video recorders don't offer much in the way of image control settings, but we don't award points for presets in this area.
Zoom (1.0)
The Chocolate 3's video recorder offers a digital zoom that is operated by the left and right controls on the D-pad. There are 10 possible zoom positions and they are shown graphically in a bar at the bottom of the screen below the live preview. Since digital zoom is not very effective and does nothing to enhance the quality of the image, we only award 1 point when this is the only zoom option available.
Editing (0.0)
Recorded videos cannot be edited on the Chocolate 3 directly.
Modes (4.0)
The Chocolate 3 offers 2 recording time options for video recording: 30 seconds and 1 hour. The 30-second limit is required if you want to be able to send the video as an MMS, and the 1-hour setting yields videos that can only be saved to the phone and transferred via USB to your computer. The Color Effects available are Negative, Aqua, Sepia, and Black & White - these don't enhance the video recorder's actual capability but only add interesting effects if you want to capture something with a little more flair or different feel on the fly. For these options, the Chocolate 3 earns 4 points.
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